If you are making $5 ornaments and plain cutting boards for the holidays, you’re probably working for less than minimum wage and you don’t even realize it.

We are getting into the best season to either launch a craft based laser business or find new ways to end the year with record high sales!

My goal is to expand and inspire your creative endeavors this holiday season with 5 holiday products that will actually end up paying your rent, and 3 that will leave you with wasted time, wasted money and unsellable products.

Let’s dive in!

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Getting ready for the fourth quarter of the year isn’t about making more and more random things to sell.

It’s about solving a more expensive seasonal problem

That $5 ornament? You need 200 orders just to make a thousand bucks. That’s a very busy, very tiring hobby, that’s barely worth your time.

When in doubt, don’t make the cheap thing.

Or do make the cheap thing, but with different product positioning in mind.

Let me explain.

WINNER 1: The $40 Housewarming Gift Box

A lot of people in the world, when they go shopping, want a quick “get ‘er done” gift.

Meaning, they just want to get a real nice gift from one place and check it off their list. Especially during the holidays.

So instead of just selling a coaster or a tumbler. Create a personalized housewarming gift box. Cutting board, ornament, and a little welcome home sign in one bundle.

This costs about $8-15 in materials, little bit of laser time, and it can sell for $40-100 depending on what everything is made out of. Put it in a nice box or basket and maybe get even more out of it.

Everything can be premade or made to order. You just need to engrave a name or quote on each item and that increases the perceived value immediately.

Consider making your own blanks in advance so it’s easier for you to make for many customers over and over. It’s important to focus on scalable, repeatable projects you can whip out.

You’ll be surprised how this type of bundle sells well all year long thanks to people moving around all the time.

WINNER 2: DIY Ornaments

Ornaments sell this time of year. Obviously. It’s just a scientific fact.

But would you rather try to sell one cute funny santa ornament over and over and over and get yourself stuck on a Christmas hamster wheel of unsellable merchandise?

Or make highly desirable keepsake collectibles for fan bases that are practically guaranteed to sell?

I think we both know which one is better here.

So, what is it? First, you need to find a super-niche.

Not just cat people, not just dog people, but Persian cat people, and Labridoodle dog people.

Heres the formula:

Have an ornament listing for a very specific personality trait of a person.

Let them choose from 3 different backgrounds and 3 different top layers that are focused on their specific trait, hobby or personality type.

Add an upgrade option to engrave the name and/or year on there, and bam! A fun DIY experience.

This can be done in person too! There’s actually a fun psychological aspect that contributes to the success of this type of product and I’ll tell you all about it in the next one!

WINNER 3: The Personalized Family Name Sign

Have you ever been to Ikea? Ya know, the place where you have to make your own furnature?

There is this thing called the IKEA effect which is a cognitive bias where people place a higher value on items they have partially created themselves, leading to a greater emotional attachment to the product compared to a ready-made one.

There is a mental relationship between effort and perceived value that suggests the act of contributing to the creation of something increases its worth in the eyes of the individual.

So, before you go making a generic “Merry Christmas” sign, make one with an option to add a family name.

Let them pick a wreath, Christmas tree or Santa sleigh background.

You can make these ahead of time and just custom engrave and cut their family name to layer on top.

Costs you $6 in wood, sells for $55-$75 because it’s a statement piece for their front door. It’s not just decor. It’s a “our house is the holiday house” declaration.

You are going to love what’s coming next. I’ve got 2 more for ya, but do you know what you’re gonna do about for your ENTIRE Holiday season? Your pricing, your Etsy listings, how to effectively sell to your email list – or even get one started?

That is exactly what we’re building together at my Ignite & Scale Summit: Ignite the Holidays.

On September 15-17, I’m bringing in over 20 speakers that are giving you all their laser knowledge and business expertise on how to scale this holiday season!

We are covering topics like Simple Holiday Gifts Sets Without the Burnout with Cathrine from Laser Design Club (who’s much more of an expert that I am) and From Blank to Bestseller: A Laser Maker’s Holiday Playbook by Rich the LA Hobby Guy!

Plus, there will be live events such as JJ from the channel Chalkwatts going live with me as we analyze a perfect product for the holidays, and all the other days!

More on this in a bit.

And please stick around to see if you are gearing up to make products that are automatically going to flop. But first-

WINNER 4: The “Profession” Holiday Gift Set

Okay, this one will work for all things, forever. No matter if you make ornaments, gift sets, jewelry, dog tags or literally anything else.

A lot of people have jobs. Not just that, but a lot of people have a lot of the SAME jobs.

Like teachers, or nurses or firemen, even construction workers!

Sandwich artists, rideshare drivers, librarians and criminologists!

Each of these professions are a great niche to try out. And it really helps if you have some sort of tie into the profession. Then you can incorporate career lingo and inside jokes into it, which is even better.

Consider mechanics. There’s a joke that the 10mm wrench is always missing. That’s part of the “need to know”, insider knowledge, that bonds people together in a mutual understanding.

Like the look all restaurant workers give each other when a customer says, “have a good weekend” on a Friday night. As if we get a weekend.

Craft a niche giftset that includes an ornament that holds that 10mm wrench with a collection of funny magnets for their big red metal tool case.

Or a gift set for restaurant workers that includes a countdown dial to their next “princess shift”, and a pin set that says “86’d”, “On the Fly”, “All Day” and “Can I be Cut?”

Try to include at least 2 main product elements, of course include a nice packaging option, and be ready to make a lot of these.

WINNER 5: Memorial Ornament

Not the rinse and repeat ornament. The one people cry over.

It could be something like “Baby’s 1st Christmas” or “Forever missed, grandma.”

And when it’s personalized, it means that much more.

If you haven’t tried to offer personalized services, I encourage you to think about it.

We’ve been talking a lot about custom things so far one – because of that Ikea effect we talked about, but two – because it’s the best way to really stand out from everyone else.

Whether that is online or in person. There are a lot of portable lasers out there now and I have covered a few!

There are so many opportunities to sell locally this time of year. Check local highschools, churches and civic centers.

Then there is the hybrid selling method of in town by ways of online with facebook marketplace or other local classifieds.

When you provide a nice slate, glass or birch ornament keepsake with Mr. Pickles cute little face on there, people are going to lose it.

Plus, with a cost of literal dollars for the blank compared to the $25-40 you can get for a custom engraving? I just hope one day you try it out, discover how real these margins are, and start harnessing this amazing laser skill you have!

3 Losing Products to Skip this Christmas

Okay, so have you noticed a trend so far? Bundles and Specifics.

Problem solved.

Now here’s 3 that will leave you with dead inventory. Don’t panic if these were your plan, that’s exactly why I’m making this video.

Here we go:

LOSER #1: The $5 Single Ornament.

We covered it. You have to make 200 to make half your rent. It’s flipping risky for how much time it eats.

Instead, aim these at a specific niche or create a “build your own” ornament experience and charge 5 times as much.

LOSER #2: A Plain Cutting Board (or anything) That Says “Merry Christmas”.

No personalization, no bundle, no story. It either sits there forever, or you turn to selling it at a craft show for $4. The better alternative is to put that same exact design IN the housewarming box with a couple of matching goodies and charge $40.

LOSER #3: Anything With Intellectual Property You Don’t Own.

And y’all, the money you save by not paying for a license is never worth a potential fine and the closure of your etsy shop or maybe even entire business.

When in doubt, don’t. Make your own funny, make your own cute. There’s a lot of shaking up going on out there, so beware. (Especially on Etsy!)

To be honest, when I switched from making very recognizable logos and very obvious characters to my own creations, my business started to take off. Cuz it turned into MY business, not just another copy of someone elses IP.

It might even be what you need to hear to launch some massive growth within your laser business.

Speaking of growth, it’s hearing stories like this and seeing other people’s real life laser success that is far more likely to jumpstart some insane growth in your business!

And that is why I put together the Ignite & Scale Summit: Ignite the Holidays! This virtual event is happening September 15th through 17th and my 20+ friends and I are giving you the ENTIRE holiday blueprint.

Day 1 will be all about “Perfect Present Products”. What to make, how to make it and most importantly – WHEN.

Day 2 is “Markets, Marketing & More”. There will be panels on how to package products to sell fast and sell for more, out of the box business to business pitching and Etsy tips to gain some massive traction.

Day 3 is all about Scaling and Techniques! Learn how to actually fulfill all those orders without losing your mind and make them unlike anything else out there!

Wait! Here’s the best part. Every ticket is VIP.

You’ll get Lifetime Unlimited Access to every single session, so you can rewatch during your actual Q4 rush. PLUS since you’re VIP, you get access to my brand new 3-Day Holiday Goldmine Mini Challenge, and (because who doesn’t love a freebie) each ticket is a chance to win a FREE iKier Flex Portable Laser!

Big shout out to iKier for being a sponsor!

The very best price is right now, it’s going to go up in just a few days and then again once the event starts! Go to igniteandscalesummit.com!

And if you are from the future, don’t fret! See where this link takes you and how it can help your laser business!

That is what my channel is all about! A like and subscribe helps me to make more videos on how to help you scale your business and ignite your laser imagination! (See what I did there?)

If you are getting all excited about the holidays, then check this post out next! I give you 8 specific steps to implement this season to get the most out of your limited time while maximizing your customer satisfaction!

Thank you so much for watching and happy crafting!